VANCOUVER, B.C. – Stimulated perhaps by the Olympic highs of Ryan Kesler, Pavol Demitra, and Roberto Luongo, the Canucks appeared unstoppable Wednesday when they beat the below par Detroit Red Wings 6-3, gifting 11 different Canucks with at least a point each and rounding out a nice little post-break performance by Kyle Wellwood, who scored in both Columbus and Detroit.
They were, however, brought down to earth Friday with a loss to their most obnoxious rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks looked threatening and despite dire goaltending by Christobal Huet, the Canucks loss was a humbling one, especially since it sent the man with gold around his neck skating shamefully towards the bench to be replaced by a solid Andrew Raycroft.
The loss in Chicago was undisciplined at best: Vancouver took six minors and one fighting major before the 10 minute mark of the first period. Nevertheless, this marks game 11 of the moderately successful 14-game road trip, and the fact that the Canucks are still sitting comfortably at the top of their division is a testament to the most well rounded Vancouver roster in recent years.
The Canucks, as they tend to be, were conservative at the trade deadline. GM Mike Gillis made his biggest move acquiring Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Andrew Alberts for a third round draft pick. Though the acquisition is not at the scale of the Tomas Kaberle rumours, Alberts was an intelligent choice putting the finishing touches on a rough, physical Canucks team so dramatically different from the flimsy finesse-driven team of the past several years. Alberts, who made his debut in the loss to Chicago, is not a remarkably offensive player with just 10 points in 62 games this season, but his role is clear: size and strength.
The Canucks have an exhaustive three more road games to complete before finally returning to GM Place on March 13th to take on the Ottawa Senators. They still have a good chance to finish the arduous trip above .500 with games against Nashville and Phoenix, (reportedly Captain Luongo’s initial goal), but division rivals the Colorado Avalanche who are to be visited by the Canucks on March 9th will likely be their greatest antagonists before the trip home to Vancouver.
Contact the writer at gabrielle.pope@prohockeynews.com
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